1. joe
   Admin
   Posted 11 months ago #
   

   In addition to getting the contract to run a Public Bike System here in Toronto, the people behind Bixi will soon be running programs in Boston and London!

   • 
     

     A great Canadian-born venture has gone international, from a successful beginning in Montreal, Quebec. Bixi, a bicycle sharing service, has won contracts to set up the sharing program in Boston, Massachusetts and London, England. Representatives from Bixi have also been on an international tour, showcasing the program in Toronto, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Seattle, and now, New York.

     The new public bike system is a perfect alternative to auto transit, and can complement public transit systems due to easy access and wide availability within city centers. It’s available to everyone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, as long as they’re 14 years of age or older, with a minimum height of 1.24 meters. In Montreal, the system operates from May to November, then shuts down for the harsh winter months.

     It’s a perfect system, with ‘convenience’ and ‘green’ written all over it. Take one when you need it, leave it when you arrive at your destination. For a trip on the fly or part of a daily routine, Bixi is changing the way we commute, one city at a time.

     
     

   From Greenr.

2. joe
   Admin
   Posted 8 months ago #
   

   Nice article in the Globe about Bixi's success in Montreal:

   • 
     Montreal's wheels of fortune

     

     It sounds like a pet's name, but Bixi is Montreal's biggest success in the past few years. It's a sturdy, sensible, yet handsome bike that anyone can rent to travel within city limits. The Bixi (short for “bicycle” and “taxi”), which was introduced last May, is modelled on Paris's Vélib – except it's much better.

     Its inventor, designer Michel Dallaire, learned from the unhappy experiences of the Vélib and devised ways to minimize the risk of vandalism and theft. The Bixi is perfectly adapted to Montreal's punishing climate. It is made of rust-proof aluminum instead of steel, and the docking stations where the bikes can be rented – by swiping a credit card or using a membership key – and deposited after use, are entirely modular. They can be mounted and removed in 20 minutes without costly alterations to the streets and sidewalks.

     Mr. Dallaire, an award-winning industrial designer, made sure that both the bicycles and the stations would be aesthetical. And they are. Even although some car drivers find them intrusive, the stations fit beautifully into the urban scenery. And the Bixi is totally made-in-Quebec – the only exception being the docking stations' keyboards, which are made in Israel. The bikes were built in Chicoutimi by Devinci, and Rio Tinto Alcan provided the aluminum.

     No surprise, then, that Time magazine hailed the Bixi bike-sharing system as one of the 50 top inventions of 2008, and the U.S.-based Edison Award named it the best new product in its energy and sustainability category. The little bike has already travelled quite far. Both Boston and London have already bought the system and other cities, including New York, Toronto, Seattle and Vancouver, are potential buyers.

     ...

     In Montreal, there are now 5,000 bikes available from 400 docking stations and late last month hit the one-million-trips mark.

     Full Article
     

3. joe
   Admin
   Posted 7 months ago #
   

   From the Financial Post:

   • 
     Come on and take a 'fee' ride

     It's hard to argue with the benefits of public bike sharing: less traffic, cleaner air and affordable transportation. But while the idea is successful in Europe, it has been a non-starter in North America -- at least until this year with the arrival of Montreal's Public Bike System Co. More than a hit at home, Public Bike is also exporting its stylish bikes and its entrepreneurial savvy to major cities in the U.S. and overseas.

     "We've been successful because our business model makes sense," says Alain Ayotte, president of Public Bike, an arm of the quasi-public Stationnement de Montreal. Unlike cities such as Stockholm and Barcelona, which finance their systems with advertising, Public Bike looked to Montreal's Pay and Go parking program, where spaces are numbered and drivers can pay at any of several hundred kiosks. The six-year-old system handles 1.7 million transactions per month, Ayotte says. "Renting a parking space or renting a bicycle is the same thing in terms of technology."

     The bike-sharing system is dubbed Bixi (that's bike + taxi), and service subscribers are billed $78 a year. Casual riders pay $5 a day. In both cases, there's an extra charge for trips more than 30 minutes.

     Full Article
     

4. joe
   Admin
   Posted 7 months ago #
   

   Wow... Bixi continues to impress with their new Bixi Boutique. Can't figure out what to get someone in Montreal for Christmas? How about a monthly or yearly pass to the hottest piece of cycling infrastructure this side of the Atlantic?

   

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